Healthcare professionals have long been considered as a population vulnerable to workplace violence. Unfortunately, other than the nursing profession, very little is known about the extent to which other healthcare providers are exposed to physical or nonphysical violence (e.g., verbal abuse, threats, or harassment). The purpose of this application is to assess the causes and effects of physical therapists' exposure to physical and nonphysical violence in the workplace with a qualitative approach. The proposed study has three objectives. First, it clarifies situational (e.g., organizational and job characteristics) and behavioral (e.g., perpetrator behaviors) antecedents of violence in physical therapy. Next, it explores the short-term and long-term physical, psychological, social, and health outcomes of the violence exposure. Finally, it identifies intervention needs for curtailing violence and buffering its negative effects on the victims from therapists who had experienced violence. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to gather 125 physical therapists' experiences with 30 specific violence incidents that were compiled based on previous literature. Probing questions designed to clarify antecedents and outcomes of the incidents will be used. In addition, therapists will be asked to generate suggestions that may help prevent the future violent encounters or cope with the negative outcomes of the exposure. Results from this project will inform the development of a survey instrument with a comprehensive list of categories of violence, exposure antecedents and outcomes, and intervention needs. This survey can then be used for a broad-based exposure assessment, and in the design of interventions to prevent violence in physical therapy. Public Health Relevance: The application focuses on assessing the causes and effects of physical therapists' exposure to physical and nonphysical violence at work. It also identifies intervention needs to prevent future violence against physical therapists.
The application focuses on assessing the causes and effects of physical therapists'exposure to physical and nonphysical violence at work. It also identifies intervention needs to prevent future violence against physical therapists.
